Born at Burnt Mills,
Maryland, on August 25, 1850, he was appointed to
West Point from
Montgomery County, Maryland, graduating in 1874. He was commissioned in the
Infantry branch and assigned to the western frontier. He served as chief of Army Scouts under
Col. Nelson Appleton Miles in the pursuit and capture of
Chief Joseph of the
Nez Perce in 1877. He was promoted to
first lieutenant in September 1879 and served in
Texas in 1880 and
Arizona in 1882. In 1885, as a commander of
Apache scouts, he took part in the
expedition into
Mexico in pursuit of
Geronimo and for conduct in that action he received the
Medal of Honor. He was officially awarded the medal in November 1894. He was promoted to
captain in November 1890, and saw action against the
Sioux Indians in 1890–94. ==Medal of Honor citation==